Site Updated! Oh, and I'm Back!

I finally updated my website with pics and stories from the trip. Check out the photo gallery if you get a chance. Also, here is a link to the video slideshow they presented in church: http://animoto.com/play/C6Eo9i7LsqmGNuz9qz2zCA?utm_source=share_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email#

The house is complete!!!

As the sun set over Malawi, I stood on the top of the completed tin roof and gazed across the brush at the beautiful orange colors in the sky. By far one of the best sunsets I've ever seen.

We moved the cabinets into the house in the dark, and all gathered for prayer for the house and the children that are to live there. It is a great feeling of accomplishement on so many levels. I am truly emotionaly overwhelmed from the week.

There has been a group of children that have shown up every day to watch us work. One in particular, Bright, has continued to bring his homemade ball and a few of us have played hacky sack with him at the end of the work day. I had our driver, Martin, come with me to translate. I told him his ball, made of plastic bags, was no good. I proceeded to produce from my backpack a brand new soccer ball and pump with extra needles. When I told him it was for him and all his friends they all jumped and cheered. It was sweet! I spent a few minutes showing him how to use the pump and then we all kicked the new ball around for a good 15-20 minutes. It was a nice finish to a great day. I also managed to get the old ball from him as a trade. I think it was a fair deal, but I may have come out ahead.

One sad note

I debated posting this, but sometimes it's important to have a reality check in life.

As we were driving home from the jobsite we noticed a woman laying on the side of the road with her baby wrapped to her. We noticed she was foaming at the mouth and immediately pulled over. We have a nurse with us so a few of us jumped out to try to help. She had come to and our driver was able to interpret for us that she was very sick and was headed to the clinic or home because it was closed (not quite sure). We gave her some water and offered her some food which she declined. All she wanted was a ride which we were unable to accomodate as we were already so full a couple of us were standing. I took up a small collection so she could catch a bus. As we left she tried to squeeze on and had to again explain there was no room. It was a quiet bus ride home.

The experience was a reminder of how poor and undeveloped this country still is. A sick mother and her child have to walk to their destination which is sometimes miles away. I can only hope that the role I'm playing helps provide some relief to these people. Frankly, it saddens me to know that there are still so many people in this world that need help.

Almost finished

Got to keep it quick because thery're kicking me off the cpu to close. We got tin on half the roof, paint on some walls, cabinets built and painted, and I played hacky sack with a couple kids at the end of the day. All in all, pretty solid day. Tomorrow we go to a Malawian church. That should definately be an experience.

More progress

8 trusses standing and secure. Plaster going up inside on the walls. 3 cabinets near completion. Everything is looking great!

The kids that are going to live in the house came by today. They were stoked. They even helped carry the trusses and lift them onto the house. One of them wasn't quite tall enough but held his hands in the air and jumped every so often to touch it. It was a thing of beauty!

More progress on the house

7 more tursses banged out today. My man, Tenfortennra, was busy with other stuff so handed the reins over to me today. I have a couple more guys join my crew and we were able to make progress on the trusses. We should be able to finish them up in the morning and start raising the roof either tomorrow evening or Friday.

The last truss of the day was pretty fun. Andy (our group leader) and I were pretty tired of hammering nails all day (my elbow is killing me) so he came up with the great idea of asking the group if anyone wanted to pound any nails. So we pretty much had a group of girls trying to swing a framing hammer and bending a bunch of nails. It was hilarious, but they all enjoyed it and got to contribute to the cause. It was a great idea and gave us a much needed break.

We also had our first Kid's Rally tonight. A few of the girls and the childern's pastor from church went to an offsite location and put on a performance of sorts for the kids. Music, songs, puppets, and etc. They had around 120 or so children show up and they all had a great time. They did say it took a little while for them to warm up to the puppets as they had never seen anything like that before, but once they did they loved it! I believe they are doing it again tomorrow night and maybe one more evening if time allows.

All in all things are going well. There is still much work to be done, but I think everything is going great. Until next time...

Long Day

Thought I'd add just a bit more. The house is moving along nicely. We feel good about the progress and should be able to take it pretty far along.

There were a ton of kids that hung around today. It started with 4-5 and there were probably 20-30 on site by day's end. They were stoked to see all of us and absolutly love to have their pictures taken. They particularly like it when you show it to them on the screen (of a digital camera). I took a few pics of them today, and will try to get one up if I get time. Some of the ladies tought them songs and at one time I looked over and they were playing duck, duck, goose. Incredible.

Let me just say that by day's end when I looked back at the house and the amount of work we got done I was truly touched. Simply amazing here in so many ways, both good and bad.

Things are going well

This is a truss. I built 4 of them today with a Malawian "framing
foreman" named Tenfortenna. He's a stud and could totally be a
framer in the US. We've got 9 more to build, but we should be able to
start raising the roof tommorow. So far so good!

What a long journey

But we all made it safe. Reception is spotty so these posts may be limited. We start on the house tomorrow. The main walls are up already so we have a good place to start. More updates when possible.

Made it to DC

Piece of cake. Here's the rest:

DC to London arriving 3:00am Mtn time
10 hr layover
London to Nairobi arriving 10:30 pm mtn time
2 hr layover
Nairobi to Lilongwe arriving 4:20am mtn time.

Well be in Lilongwe at 12:20pm their time. I believe they are 8 hrs ahead. Wish me luck!!

My departure rapidly approaches

I have spent the last few days trying to decide what tools to bring on the trip. There was a tool request list from the missionaries that live on site and we have most, if not all, of those items covered. However, I have spent a few hours wandering aimlessly through Home Depot picking up random odds and ends that might be useful to take (Duct Tape!!!). Our group leader sent us an email regarding the construction of the house. The foundation is complete and some of the walls are going up. They are made of hydraform (http://www.hydraform.com/) which is basically a grooved concrete block that is dry stacked. The floor is concrete and already poured. We will be building the wood trusses and attaching the corrugated tin roof. Windows and doors may or may not be installed when we get there. We will also be building cabinetry, countertops, wardrobes, etc. out of blockboard (http://www.design-technology.org/Blockboard.htm) and possibly some rough in electrical and plumbing. I imagine we may do some painting/finish work if we get to that point.

I guess at some point I should start to figure out what I’m bringing besides tools. But there’s plenty of time for that. I still have 4 days!!

I'm in charge of...

Tape. Haha. Pastor Jim asked me to buy something colorful and flag everyone's luggage so we can more easily spot it as it comes off the conveyor belt. It's actually a great idea, but seems so random of a thing to assign to me. I'm actually just glad he trusted me to do something to help the team. I bought some bright orange flagging tape from the hardware store. I figure I can tie it around the handles. Think 600' is enough?

I also spoke with Andy, team leader in terms of construction. I let him know my construction background and he seemed a little relieved he wasn't the only one with building experience. I'm certainly no pro, but I know I can contribute and I'm not shy about swinging a hammer. It's whether or not I hit anything that's the issue! Heh.

2 Weeks and Counting - Disease Prevention

Well, I leave for Malawi in just under 2 weeks now. I finally got my malaria medication yesterday. Thankfully I don't have to start taking it until the day before I leave. I'm also good to go on all the shots I need prior to departure. I will have to get one final Hepatitis shot in October though, but whatever. It's amazing how much precaution must be taken before traveling to Africa. I guess I never realized disease was still so prevelant in 3rd world countires. It's 2009 and people are still dying from diseases that have vaccinations! So sad, truly.

My list of shots/medication:

• Hepatitis A & B: 2 shots with a 3rd in Oct.
• Tetanus/Diphtheria
• Yellow Fever
• Typhiod
• Malaria

What's funny, at least to me, is that these aren't even the scariest diseases. Check out this snail disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis